Carmelo Anthony took to Instagram Tuesday night to remember his dear friend and NBA legend Kobe Bryant, and his daughter Gianna, who passed away early Sunday morning in a helicopter crash that also killed seven other people.

Anthony made some initial comments after the Blazers defeated the Pacers Sunday night, but the forward couldn't muster up too much to say just hours after the tragedy occurred.

"Our friendship and relationship was deeper than basketball...It was family. It was friendship," Anthony said after the game Sunday.

Now two days later with some more time to process, Anthony posted this to Instagram:

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Damn Bro!! 😥 I hate when I have so much to say, but I can't put any of it into words. The times I have the most to say are the times that I can't talk. I'm screaming inside but I can't be heard. YOU don't know how hard it is to try to pretend to smile when I have these clouds of emotions. YOU just called me and told me you were coming to the game Friday and that you were proud of me and "regardless of anything, stay true to myself and STAYME7O" We were just laughing about how hard YOU was working GiGi and her teammates and I told YOU they need a day off 😂😢 This pain is almost unbearable Champ! Why you bro? Why GiGi? Why leave Vanessa with this Sadness and Pain. WHY? This will never make sense to me. I know I'm not suppose to question GODs Will. I know GOD doesn't make mistakes. It just seems like It always rains the hardest on those who deserve the sun. There are moments in life when there's simply NO words to describe the pain within. This is one of them. YOU will continue to be Loved. YOU will be missed. YOU will forever be remembered. YOUR legacy will live on FOREVER. OUR FRIENDSHIP will never be forgotten. I know YOU will be near, Even if I don't see YOU. PEACE KING!!! "There Are No Goodbyes. Where Ever You'll be, You'll be in Our Hearts" All Praise Due #STAYME7O

A post shared by Carmelo Anthony (@carmeloanthony) on Jan 28, 2020 at 4:41pm PST

Anthony and Bryant obviously knew each other as stars do around the NBA, but their bond truly grew when the duo were teammates for Team USA in 2007, where they won the FIBA Americas Championships, and 2008 and 2012, when they won back-to-back gold medals at the Olympics.

Anthony said in his postgame comments Sunday that he heard the tragic news from his wife, who called him on the phone crying.

"I was in bed with my son, my wife called me crying," Anthony said. "People that's close to the family called me. At that point, everything just kind of went numb, dark. Basketball for me was the furthest thing on my mind today."

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